BTO Watch

Huckabee, Daniels, and Trump are all out. Gingrich? As if. Palin has done little if anything to build an organization. So why isn't Michele Bachmann the top dark horse contender for the GOP nomination in 2012? Dan Rather thinks so.

You Can Always Count On The Nixon Guy

Ben Stein sticks up for Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

Yorba Linda Wildflowers

Friday afternoon in the desert, aka the Orange County suburbs

He Is Risen

This seems as good an evening as any to call an Easter hiatus at The Episconixonian. The unread book pile is reaching alarming heights. Thanks to my readers! Back soon.

What We Did

The president began to tighten the noose around Osama bin Laden's neck in August. He managed the operation personally in a series of secret meetings. Nothing leaked. According to CNN, it was during last Friday's royal wedding that he gave the order for today's breathtaking raid. As he and his family were wandering around the Kennedy Space Center, young American volunteers under his command in Afghanistan were preparing to extend and flex the arm of justice.

Last week, it briefly appeared that Barack Obama had permitted Donald Trump a moment of parity by appearing in the White House to talk about his birth certificate as the bumptious tycoon gave a press conference in New Hampshire. How wrong I was. Tonight, as grateful crowds gathered at the White House and ground zero, as CNN replayed Obama's carefully nuanced address, words we'll remember every May Day for many years, Trump was starring with Meat Loaf on "Celebrity Apprentice."

Great live-blogging here by Andrew Sullivan.

Well done, Mr. President.

What He Did

Easter Friday Flowers

Yorba Linda, 2:15 p.m.

With Influence Comes Responsibility

David D. Kirkpatrick, writing in the New York Times about Egypt's assertive regional moves: Bringing Fatah and Hamas together, promising to end the Gaza blockade, and improving relations with Iran:

Egyptian officials, emboldened by the revolution and with an eye on coming elections, say that they are moving toward policies that more accurately reflect public opinion. In the process they are seeking to reclaim the influence over the region that waned as their country became a predictable ally of Washington and the Israelis in the years since the 1979 peace treaty with Israel.

National Leader Pretend

Remembering the late David Broder, dean of the Washington political columnists, saying that "the only way a reporter should ever look at a politician is down,” the Washington Post's Dana Milbank fears that the annual White House Correspondents' Assn. gala has turned into a level preying field where lobbyists and corporations seduce journalists with swag and fancy receptions. And what's with the at-table matchmaking?:

[Is it] ABC News’s role to unite Glee’s Jane Lynch with White House chief of staff Bill Daley or 30 Rock’s Elizabeth Banks with National Security Advisor Tom Donilon? What’s the purpose of Fox News introducing actress Patricia Arquette to Rep. Michele Bachmann, National Journal presenting actor Taylor Kitsch to Obama strategist David Axelrod, NPR introducing REM’s Michael Stipe to U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice, or The Post connecting Trump and House Speaker John Boehner?

I'd have enjoyed eavesdropping on Stipe and Rice, though. And that's R.E.M.!
Hat tip to Mick Gilford

The Evil Of Tahrir Square

Lara Logan of CBS News speaks once, and only once, about the 40-minute sexual assault by 200-300 men that she suffered in the Arab street.